I catch a few beaver every year and stopped using my 330's for the most part and set mostly #4 jumps with long chain,12-15 feet.I either stake them with a long t handle rebar or use 2 mb trailblazer style drags.I take a 4 ft piece of chain with a drag on each end, add a swivel in the center and a couple links of chain,then I attach 12 ft of chain to the trap with a swivel on the end with a couple links off the end, then I use a big lap link to hook them together.I pre-hook each drag up on the bank to something solid to keep them out of the water.I caught several beaver using this set-up last year,no pull outs or other issues.I can't make myself go to a single drag though,for some reason it makes me nervous...LOL

Wow, I'll set a 330 everywhere I see an oppurtunity, hardly ever have a miss or a pullout with those! Plus I do a lot of trapping along a river and some days the foothold sets will be high and dry, then the next they'll be 2 feet under water, a 330 set right will make catches through fluctuations like that, as long as you're able to keep them submerged for legal reasons

I think a live beaver would be wolf bait around here, also fur damage, rearranging the landscape, spooking other beavers and have to check a non drowning set every 24 hours around here. Drowning them is not a big chore for me. You are indeed very lucky to never have a pull out, toenail, etc. Not always things work out as planned, you cannot predict animals every time. In the spring other beavers would chew the caught one to pieces. I have seen it many times.

With a large trap the percentages just work out better. I use the biggest trap I can unless trying to purposely front foot catch due to water depth, bank conditions, etc.

There are many good simple methods to effectively drown beaver. I personally would not advocate otherwise, due to visibility, theft, fur damage, bad PR. if you are carrying that much chain, you could easily make a drowning set quickly. Just doesn't work in my stubborn Finlander head. Your conditions may be very different from mine...

Since I started trapping in 1973, I would say we have much better traps and gear to choose from now. Get the best stuff you can, if you can afford 100 dollar traps, get them. I have 4 and 14 Newhouse,no. 14 Victors, TS 85's, MB 750's, 280 Belisles, Savageau 11X12, and a couple of good home made traps and they all have their place. I have caught beavers in 1 1/2's and even 160's but not on purpose.

Good luck and go visit an old timer, even if he or she cannot trap anymore, you may enjoy the visit and they will too.

MChewk...I NEVER lost a beaver, EVER to twist outs. not even toed and I have caught some by only one toe.With the long chain and lots of swivels there isn't any binding.....how do you twist out when you can't get a solid hold ?

I got away from using 330s a long time ago I have caught alot better quality of beaver using footholds, every year I catch some of the largest beaver in the area and its all on footholds. I love the MB750s or any large trap I would use the Ts85s if the where legal hear. The back foot on a beaver can get huge especially on those ones over 60#.

Why would anybody want to dick around with a live beaver when its so easy to dispatch them with a coni or drowner.Lost production dealing with live animals and messy skinning plus extra time cleaning up the fur when processing.

I catch between 350 to 450 each year both nuisance and fur and in all circumstances its much more efficient dealing with dead animals than live ones for the reasons mentioned as well as set location being wrecked for reset etc.This is my take. Elsewhere may be different but you wont convince me otherwise where I trap.I use snares, foothold, and conis,as all the tools are necessary for nuisance when dealing with beaver that have been educated by rookies.

LT GREY, I'm trying to visualize your set up. How, with your long chain method, do you keep beaver from wrapping themselves around every bit of brush and tall grass on the bank or snags out in the water? I'm new, so I'm just asking. Not challenging you as it obviously has worked well or I assume you'd find a better way.

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I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man were to challenge me I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand to a quiet place and kill him.

Snares for me. I don't mind them sitting there waiting for me, I get to have a little small talk with it in that lonely swamp. Stakes, hammer, snares, castor and some hunks of #9 wire in the backpack and I'm off. 330s are heavy to carry and if ya miss them they're spooked and educated. Footholds are heavy too and drowning rigs aren't always feasible and take a while to set up. Snares set up real fast and if I miss one I know I'll have him in a day or two rather than knowing I spooked one and may never catch it. A beaver sitting on the bank doesn't spook other beavers either like a dead one might. Twice this year I saw another beaver swim away from near a snared one when I arrived and caught that one the next night. I think one caught in a snare actually brings others to it so I set up another snare 15' away and sometimes catch both momma and poppa same night. [img:center]http://[/img]

Tony, I bet I know where you learned that. lol. I was taught that same method and have used it successfully since 1983 without a single loss. My trap of choice was a dandy beaver trap that used to be built by Glen Sterling. It was a modernized version of the old Newhouse #114. I have also successfully used Sterling MJ600's to front foot trap beaver in shallow water where drowning was impossible and there were absolutely no place for the beaver to tangle up on anything.

I used to love using those big toothed beaver traps. They were heavy, especially after adding 20 ft of #2 machine chain. Newhouse was definately ahead of his time with his design and the rounded blunt teeth engineered right into the jaws. Too bad my state has outlawed their use due to public perception. Those were some of the most humane animal friendly traps I've ever used!

I catch between 350 to 450 each year both nuisance and fur and in all circumstances its much more efficient dealing with dead animals than live ones for the reasons mentioned as well as set location being wrecked for reset etc.This is my take. Elsewhere may be different but you wont convince me otherwise where I trap.I use snares, foothold, and conis,as all the tools are necessary for nuisance when dealing with beaver that have been educated by rookies.

rookie's ? how many beaver educated by other trappers can you be dealing with in a registered trapline area ?

Coonwild,My job for the Ont.Northland Rwy.between apr and dec was nuisance beaver removal for many years until this year when they gave me a pension(after 36 yr).Believe me I have dealt with tree huggers tampering with traps in North Bay to Bear predation in temiskaming and wolf predation on the moosonee line.Not to mention the public all along the northeast corridor to Hearst.Lots of beaver that I removed had been educated by rookies.On my registered line,It is not a problem.lol.

beaverguy, I have trapped as many beaver as anyone in my county...now we are not as big a beaver state as some places down south to be sure. That said, I have trapped beaver every year in footholds since 1987. I have NEVER used a drowner as there is no reason to with the right set-up and the right trap.I trap beaver for fur and ADC work.I have NEVER footed or toed a beaver. That's straight up!

Lucky ?...don't feel that has anything to do with it. It's knowing how to properly set-up a trap and picking the right trap and the right bank.

LT is there anyway you can post a pic of how/where u would set the trap for non drowning? My interest is up because I front footed a beaver in a #5 duke dbl in a drown rod. The beaver was at the end of the rod asleep, the water level had dropped dramatically. This beaver was high and dry. I was surprised it had,not wrung off.